Suspects grilled by police after frozen meat is stolen from pit

Police are grilling seven suspects in connection with the theft of hundreds of tons of smuggled frozen meat that authorities had buried under concrete. They say residents in Yunnan province dug up the meat and took it away, probably to sell it.

A total of 249 metric tons of frozen meat, including beef, tripe and chicken feet, was buried 5 meters deep and sealed with concrete at a garbage disposal plant in Jinping county after it was seized between April 8 and 12.

About 100 police officers guarded the site for more than three days, until the concrete was fully set. After they left, however, the plant was overwhelmed by hundreds of residents, who broke through the concrete and took the meat, probably with the intent to sell it, Xu Yang, deputy head of Honghe prefecture, which has jurisdiction over Jinping, said on Saturday.